After years of struggling to feed my older dog Bailey, who never seemed entirely satisfied with his meals, it came to a point when he stopped eating his kibble altogether.
I found myself without a real resource or guidance - it was terrifying. After having spoken to numerous vets and having consulted with various specialty pet food stores, I was left feeling very frustrated and with very few answers. I found myself at an impasse: was it him? or was it the food?
In an effort to better understand the possible reasons behind his lack of interest in his dry food, I began looking into the specifics of the pet food industry. It took some detective work, but what I came to understand after months of research was that the commercial pet food industry was in the business of selling and hocking cheap, overly processed “food” with little attention to specific canine and feline biological needs. Turns out that the “premium” dog kibble I had been feeding Bailey for years wasn't nearly as good as I was led to believe and he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed to thrive. It all started to make sense: I had often wondered why Bailey always seemed hungry despite being overweight. He never seemed satisfied or satiated and it was incredibly frustrating. I was at a loss until I happened upon an article about feeding a raw diet; after that, everything changed.
The Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (BARF) diet philosophy was straightforward: in order to ensure a lifetime of optimal health, I had to feed a biologically appropriate raw food diet to our canine and feline carnivores. So simple. No wonder I was having such a hard time feeding Bailey! His body had been craving real meat. The day I switched him to a raw food diet, I witnessed genuine satisfaction for the first time. Bailey no longer spent his days desperately scrounging for dropped food on the kitchen floor and his weight finally stabilized.
Six months later, along came Blu! I made sure to start him on raw as soon as he came home to me and he's been happily eating a raw food diet since he was nine weeks old. And unlike poor Bailey, Blu has been the very picture of health! It’s hard to express just how positive a difference feeding a raw diet has made in our lives. I truly feel that the last year of Bailey's life was immeasurably benefited by his change in diet.
After Bailey died, I chose to share my experience and newfound knowledge by both opening a store where the emphasis would be on nutrition and education and preparing my own line of balanced raw meat diets for dogs and cats. By offering both an in-house, human grade, artisanal raw food, along with carefully chosen brands of grain-free canned, air dried, dehydrated and dry diets, I was certain I could make a real difference in the lives of dogs and cats.
And that’s how we came to be: Bailey, my inspiration and catalyst for discovering the truth about animal nutrition and Blu, the one carrying his legacy forward, testifying to the very real benefits of a healthy, species appropriate diet.
Natalie Gore
Founder